


Miles to Go Before I Sleep

by babykid528



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [9]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Post-Series, Sam Seaborn/Toby Ziegler - Freeform, Step-parents, past Sam Seaborn/Josh Lyman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-08 02:19:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1923051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babykid528/pseuds/babykid528
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Officially, Sam becomes a New Yorker. Unofficially, he’s a nomad.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Miles to Go Before I Sleep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [raedbard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raedbard/gifts).



> I asked for some non-Pinto prompts, for a change, and Kit had the awesome idea to ask for some Sam & Molly. <333

 

When things are all said and done, when Bartlet leaves office and Santos takes over, Sam leaves the only state he ever really called home and follows Josh, once again, across the country. He tries, really tries, to make it work at the White House this time. With Santos in charge and Josh pulling the strings. But he and Josh work better far apart now, or so they learn. And Sam’s heart just isn’t in the song and dance of it anymore.

He stays for the first term, gathers all his things out of Josh’s apartment, and leaves before the second begins.

He finds himself on Toby’s steps, bags in tow: no longer a Californian, no longer a government official, no longer with any place to go.

Toby stands aside and welcomes him in without a word.

Huck and Molly are little when he first comes. Too little to really care why Sam had shown up, or what he plans on doing once he is there. All they care about is that he’s there. He’s there and he’s staying and they leave the details to their dad and Sam.

Officially, Sam becomes a New Yorker. Unofficially, he’s a nomad.

Sam doesn’t stay in one place for very long. He makes their apartment his home. He puts down his roots. But they’re the kind of roots he can cut off and leave behind for months at a time. The kind that, miraculously, don’t die once detached. The kind that wait for his return.

He joins the lecture circuit. Goes to colleges across the country. Speaks to jaded students, weighed down by ridiculously large loans and poor job prospects, and he hands them bundles of hope, wrapped neatly in his still eloquent words. He forces the optimism out of his soul and does his best to spread it around. When he’s done, at least a few people are smiling, and that keeps him going.

No matter where he goes, though, Sam’s always home for birthdays, for holidays, for big events. Huck can’t believe it, every time Sam shows up just when he should. Molly just grins and nudges her brother. She always knows that Sam will arrive, she always expects him. She has a lot more faith in people, in general, than Huck ever will.

When Molly and Huck turn ten, Sam misses their birthday for the first time. He’s in Milwaukee, of all places. He’s stuck in the airport because of a thunderstorm. He calls and speaks to each of them, sings them each their very own, special birthday song, and he promises he’ll be home soon. He’ll see them as soon as possible.

Huck looks relieved in his disappointment. He’s been waiting for Sam to miss something for so many years now, he’s almost glad it finally happened. Molly, on the other hand, feels like the ground has fallen out from beneath her.

The feeling reminds her of that tablecloth magic trick. The one where, if you pull fast enough, the stuff on top of the table stays standing, but the tablecloth is no longer beneath it. Huck’s reaction is like the successful trick: he always expected this disappointment eventually. Molly’s reaction is like what happens when the trick fails and everything goes rolling off the table.

She makes it through cake and presents, lip occasionally trembling. She doesn’t look for seconds. She doesn’t play with her new toys or read her new books. She just cuddles up to her mom on the couch and looks out the window, wondering if she can stay awake long enough to see Sam when he arrives.

She drifts off to sleep at some point, because she opens her eyes to the sound of the front door softly closing. And Sam is there then, kneeling in front of her. Her mom has long since gone home, and she’s covered in the throw blanket that usually drapes across the back of the couch.

"Hey, Moll," Sam whispers. "Happy birthday."

Molly can just make out her dad’s shadow, bringing Sam’s bags into their room.

Sam runs his hand through her tangled hair then.

"You’re late," she says, voice thick with lingering sleep.

"I am," he agrees, "I’m really sorry."

She knows he means it and she really isn’t one to hold grudges so she nods against the couch cushion.

"Okay," she tells him.

"I have some things planned for the four of us tomorrow, to make up for it," he tells her. "They’re surprises, so I won’t tell you what, but I wanted you to know."

He tugs gently on her hair and smiles softly at her. She looks at his face, exhausted from traveling, and his clothes, all rumpled from being stuck in the airport, and she can’t do anything other than smile back at him, bright and wide. He’s here now. That’s what matters.

She twists up off the couch enough to wrap her arms around his neck so she can press her face into his cheek.

She can feel his smile widen before he scoops her up into his arms, the blanket dropping down back to the couch. He carries her to her bed, arms careful and strong, and when he places her on the covers, she wiggles to get down beneath them. Huck continues to lightly snore in his bed across the room, undisturbed by their presence.

Sam kisses her forehead once Molly is situated, but he doesn’t leave. Instead, he pulls out a blanket from the plastic bag she didn’t even know he’d been holding, and he passes it to her. It has the Milwaukee Admirals hockey logo across it, the smiling pirate skeleton grinning up at Molly, and Molly can’t stop herself from laughing at it. She covers her mouth just in time to keep herself from waking her brother.

Sam smiles down at her and tells her he knows she prefers baseball, but the logo reminded him of her.

"It’s the second best present I got, Sam," she says. "Thanks."

He looks at her, pleased that she likes it and amused that she ranked it one below the best.

"What beat it?" he asks.

She gives him a funny look before wrinkling her nose at him and swatting at his hand.

"You, of course," she says.

He leans in to kiss her forehead again, lingers there for a moment just breathing her in, and then he hugs her close.

"Get some sleep, Molly-Bean," he tells her, voice a hoarse whisper. 

Before he leaves the room, he places Huck’s new baseball jersey on the foot of his bed and touches his hand to Huck’s head, briefly petting him. Huck snuffles, but sleeps on. Sam gives Molly a little wave as he turns to leave, shutting the door behind him. She waves back before snuggling beneath her present. She imagines it smells like Milwaukee and Sam, and she drifts off to sleep.

 


End file.
